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Rashid Ad-Din Sinan
"I am a lion and only other lions frighten me. Thus; but how many a lion's assault has disappointed me!" - A line from Rashid Ad-Din Sinan's letter to Saladin Abu'l Hasan bin Suleman bin Muhammad or Rashīd ad-Dīn Sinān also known as the Old Man of the Mountain (1132/1135-1193), was a leader of the Hashashin in Syria. In Arabic, Sinan translates to the head of an arrow or spear. Latin sources from the Crusader states call him Vetulus de Montanis, derived from the Arabic title Shaykh al Jabal which means "wise man or elder of the mountain". He is variously described as an alchemist, a schoolmaster, and, on his own authority, as the son of one of the leading citizens of Basra. Biography Early Life and Career of Sinan A Syrian writer describes a visit to Sinan and a conversation with him, in the course of which Sinan described his early career, his training, and the circumstances of his mission to Syria: "I was brought up in Basra and my father was one of it's notables. This doctrine entered into my heart. Then something occurred between me and my brothers which obliged me to leave them, and I went forth without provision or mount. I made my way until I reached Alamut and entered it. Its ruler was Kiya Muhammad, and he had two sons called Hassan and Husayn. He put me in school with them and gave me exactly the same treatment as he gave them, in those things that are needful for the support, education, and clothing of children. I remained there until Kiya Muhammad died, and was succeeded by his son Hassan. He ordered me to go to Syria. I set forth as I had set forth from Basra, and only rarely did I approach any town. He had given me orders and provided me with letters. I arrived in Mosul and stayed at the mosque of the date-sellers. Thence I went to Raqqa. I had a letter to one of our comrades there, and when I delivered it to him, he furnished me with provisions and lent me a mount to carry me to Aleppo. There I met another to whom I gave a letter, and he lent me a mount and sent me on al-Kahf, where I was ordered to stay. I stayed there until Shaikh Abu Muhammad, who was in command, died in the mountains. He was succeeded by Khwaja Ali b. Mas'ud, without appointment (from Alamut) but with the agreement of the company. Then the chief Abu Mansur, the nephew of Shaykh Abu Muhammad, and the chief Fahd conspired and sent someone to stab him to death as he was leaving his bath. The leadership remained consultative among them, and the murderers were arrested and imprisoned. Then the command came from Alamut to execute the murderer and release the chief Fahd. With it came a message, and an order to read it out to the company. " A New Assassin Leader "In the year 572 (1176-77) the people of Jabal al-Summaq gave way to inequity and debauchery, and called themselves 'the Pure'. Men and women mingled in drinking sessions, no man abstained from his sister or daughter, the women wore men's clothes, and one of them declared that Sinan was his God" - Kamal al-Din The most important events after Sinan's assumption of the leadership arose from his efforts to consolidate the position of the Hashashin and to solve their manifold internal problems. The principal aim of his external policy was to defend Assassin territory against hostile Muslim and Frankish neighbors. Another question which needs consideration is that of Sinan's relations with Alamut, especially after the proclamation of the Qiyama by Hassan II ('Ala Dhikrihi al-Salam) in 1164; there may have been some connection between this and an episode involving a group of Isma'ilis in northern Syria called the Sufis ("pure"). After his accession to the leadership, Sinan found himself facing many grave problems. To protect his people was not so easy as to win their love and admiration during his early years in Syria. The pious Iraqi Shaykh (al-Shaykh al-'Iraqi) of yesterday, the teacher of the children, the provider of medical treatment for sufferers, and the austere and ascetic man of meditation, had now to concentrate on the practical needs of his people and save them from becoming an easy prey to their enemies. Sinan's Efforts to Consolidate the Hashashin Position "For he used to bring up in his palace youths belonging to his territory, and had them taught a variety of languages, and above all things to fear their Lord and obey him unto death, which would thus become to them an entrance into the joys of Paradise. And whosoever of them perished in carrying out his Lord's behests was worshiped as an angel" - Jacques de Vitry ''speaking of how Rashid Ad-Din Sinan trained his Fida'i, in ''Bongars, ''I.) In order to meet the dangers from outside, Sinan began reorganizing his men and choosing the most eligible and devoted to form the core of fidais (devotees). Thanks to his strong personality and incisive intellect, he was able to smooth away the internal dissension which had been jeopardizing Assassin unity at the beginning of the second half of the twelfth century C.E. In almost all these objectives, and in securing his own position, Sinan was successful, he had his fidais trained in various languages and in the art of collecting secret information from the courts of kings and princes. He organized an elaborate communication system, making full use of pigeons and coded messages by which the commanders of the various Hashashin strongholds were kept informed about his plans about possible threats to any of the widely scattered Assassin fortresses. Besides organizing and training the various groups of his fidais, Sinan also rebuilt two Hashashin castles which had fallen into ruin, either through natural calamities or through assaults by enemies. These were at al-Rasafaj, which is less than four miles south of Masyaf, and al-Khawabi which is about four miles south of al-Kahf. Sinan also looked to the north and by a military stratagem captured al-'Ullayqa, which is less than eight miles north east of the impregnable and well known Frankish castle al-Marqab. According to an Arab chronicler: "He built fortresses in Syria for the sect. Some were new and some were old ones which he had obtained by stratagems and fortified and made inaccessible. Time spared him and kings took care not to attack his possessions for fear of the murderous attacks of his henchmen. He ruled in Syria for thirty odd years. Their Chief Missionary sent emissaries from Alamut a number of times to kill him, fearing his usurpation of the headship, and Sinan used to kill them. Some of them he deceived and dissuaded from carrying out the orders." The key strongholds which gave Sinan an excellent strategic position were Masyaf, al-Kahf, al-Qadmus and al-'Uilayqa. Masyaf, being on eastern fringes of Jabal Bahra', served as a window on the Muslim principalities of Hama and Hims. As for al-Kahf, the center of the previous chief da'i, it became the fortress from which Sinan was able to keep an eye on Tartus (Tortosa or Antartus), and other Frankish strongholds to the south west of his territory. AI-Qadmus was his forward post in the west and al-Ullayqa that in the north-west. Neither in the internal problems of the Syrian Assassins under Sinan, nor in the relations with Saladin and the Franks, does it appear from the available evidence that Alamut played any important role. There is a report that Sinan received direction from Alamut regarding the case of Khawaja 'Ali, who tried to take over the leadership in succession to Abu Muhammad without having been designated by the Lord of Alamut, and the subsequent murder of Khawaja 'Ali at the instigation of two prominent members of the community, Abu Mansur Ibn Ahmad Ibn al-Shaykh Abu Muhammad, and al-Ra'is Fahd. Later Alamut sent instructions to Sinan to put the murderer to death and to release Fahd. It is also reported that Hassan II ('Ala Dhikrihi at-Salam) instructed Sinan to abide the rules of the Qiyama and to watch the activities of the Muslim princes. The sources say practically nothing about the role of Alamut in Sinan's relations with the Muslims and the Franks, but it cannot be inferred from this silence that there was a serious separatist movement against Alamut on the part of the Syrian Hashashin. This silence could be interpreted in various ways. The authorities at Alamut might have had full trust in Sinan's ability to run the affairs of the Syrian Assassins, and consequently have seen no need to intervene. Alternatively the reason might simply be that the chroniclers lacked information, since secretiveness was the rule among the Hashashin. Final Days and Death "You are in our grip" - Sinan's threat to Saladin His chief enemy, the Sultan Saladin (1137/1138 – 1193), ruled over Egypt and Syria from 1174 to 1193. Saladin managed twice to elude assassination attempts ordered by Sinan and as he was marching against Aleppo, Saladin devastated the Assassin possessions. In 1176 Saladin laid siege to Masyaf but he lifted the siege after two notable events that reputedly transpired between him and the Old Man of the Mountain. According to one version, one night, Saladin's guards noticed a spark glowing down the hill of Masyaf and then vanishing among the Ayyubid tents. Presently, Saladin awoke from his sleep to find a figure leaving the tent. He then saw that the lamps were displaced and beside his bed laid hot scones of the shape peculiar to the Assassins with a note at the top pinned by a poisoned dagger. The note threatened that he would be killed if he didn't withdraw from his assault. Saladin gave a loud cry, exclaiming that Sinan himself was the figure that left the tent. As such, Saladin told his guards to come to an agreement with Sinan. Realizing he was unable to subdue the Assassins, he sought to align himself with them, consequently depriving the Crusaders of aligning themselves against him. In 1179-80 al-Malik al-Salih seized al-Hijira from the Assassins. Sinan's protests producing no result, he sent agents to Aleppo who set fire to the market places and wrought great damage. Not one of the incendiaries was apprehended - a fact which suggests that they could still command local support in the city. Rashid's last notable act occurred in 1191, when he ordered the assassination of the newly elected King of Jerusalem Conrad of Montferrat. Whether this happened in coordination with King Richard I of England or with Saladin remains unknown. He died in 1192 in Al-Kahf Castle in Masyaf, Syria. Many did not believe he was dead and shunned his successors. He was succeeded by men appointed from Alamut, which regained a closer supervision over Masyaf. Disputed Letters of Sinan To Nur Ad-Din Zenki (Ref. "Ismailis of Syria", M. Galeb, p.1O9) "May God make you successful to do good in this world. You have said about me that I abolished the Shariat and left fasting and prayer. While I see that you are still sleeping while we are rising to make the Great Rise and Resurrection which Almighty God wants and orders. The bad rumours which you have spread that I am abolishing the Shariat, I do not mind. Because I may be doing like the Prophet in that sense when he said: "I did not come to abolish the Bible but to accomplish it." The Bible was the origin of Shariat, and it was accomplished by the Quran. Why, then, it should not be accomplished by the (Qiyamat) Resurrection? And this is the balance (Mizan). Or why should it not be ended by Al-Qaim who is the weight (Wazn)? Our saying is that Shariat should be accomplished by Qiyamat, and obedience by knowledge, and existing by unity. We do not say that Shariat is Al-Qiyamat, nor obedience is knowledge." To Saladin "We have read the gist and details of your letter, and taken note of its threats against us with words and deeds, and by God it is astonishing to find a fly buzzing in an elephant's ear and a gnat biting statues. Others before you had said these things and we destroyed them and none could help them. Will you then annul the truth and give aid to the false? 'Those who have done wrong will know what end they will revert' (Quran, xxvi, 228). If indeed your orders have gone forth to cut off my head and tear my castles from the solid mountains, these are false hopes and vain fantasies, for essentials are not destroyed by accidentals, as souls are not dissolved by diseases. But if we return to the ''exoteric, perceived by the senses, and leave aside the esoteric, perceived by the mind, we have a good example in the Prophet of God, who said: "No prophet suffered what I suffered." You know what happened to his line, family and party. But the situation has not changed and the cause has not failed and praise to God in the first and last. We are the oppressed and not the oppressors, deprived not deprivers. When 'the truth come the fasle vanished; verily the false is apt to vanish.' (Quran, xvii, 23) You know the outward aspect of our affairs and the quality of out men, what they can accomplish in an instant and how they seek the intimacy of death. 'Say: - Wish then for death if you speak truth.' (Quran, ii, 88) The common proverb says: 'Do you threaten a duck with the river?' Prepare means for disaster and don garments against catastrophe; for I will defeat you from within your own ranks and take vengeance against you at your own realm, and you will be as one who encompasses his own destruction, and 'for God that is not much account.' (Quran, xiv, 23) When you read this letter of ours, be on the look out for us and be moderate of your state, and read the first of 'the Bee' and the last of 'Sadd'." Proclamation of Qiyamat "In the name of God the merciful and compassionate: Fasl of the noble words of the Lord (Mawla) Rashid ad-Din (upon Him peace); it is most excellent as an explanation. My reverence is to my Lord (rabb), there is no God but He (the High (al-`ali), the Great). "Comrades (rufaqa), we have been absent from you by two absences, by that of potentially (tamkin) and by that of actuality (rakwin); and we veiled ourselves from the earth of your knowledge (ma`rifa). And the earth groaned and the heavens shook, and they said, O Creator of creatures, forgiving! And I appeared (zahartu) in Adam, and the da`wa was Eve - we assembled the hearts of the believers (mu'minin) the earth of whose hearts groaned in love for us; and we looked upon the heavens of their spirits in our mercy. And the period (dawr) of Adam, and his da`wa passed; and his hujja disappeared, through our mercy, among the people. Then we appeared in the period of Noah, and the people were drowned in my da`wa; whoever trusted in my knowledge (ma`rifa) was saved by my mercy and grace, and whoever among the people denied my hujja perished. Then I appeared in the cycle of Abraham under the three titles of star, moon and star. And I destroyed the ship, I killed the boy, I built up the wall, the wall of the da`wa; whoever trusted in my da`wa by my grace and mercy was saved; and I talked with Moses openly (zahir) not veiled; it is I that know the mysteries. I was a door for the seeker, Aaron. Then I appeared (zahartu) in the master (sayyid), the Messiah, and I wiped (their) faults from my children with my generous hand; the first pupil who stood before me was John the Baptist; outwardly (bi-z-zahir) I was Simon (Peter). Then I appeared in the `Ali of the time, and I was concealed (sutirtu) in Mohammed (or: concealed him?); and he who spoke of my knowledge (ma`rifa) was Salman. Then arose Abu dh-Dharr the true (haqiqi) among the children of the old (qadima) da`wa, as support of the Qa'im of the Qiyama, present, existent. And religion was not completed for you until I appeared to you in Rashid ad-Din; some recognized me and some denied me; the truth (haqq) continues on and those who speak truth continue on, sure in every period and time. "I am the master of what is; the dwelling is not empty of the ancient sprouts. I am the witness, the spectator, dispenser of mercy in the beginning and the end. Do not be misled by the changing of forms. You say, so-and-so passed, and so-and-so came; I tell you to consider the faces as all one face, as long as the master of existence is in existence, present, existent. Do not depart from the orders of him who received your engagement (wali `ahdi-kum) whether Arab of Persian or Turk or Greek. I am the ruler, dispenser of orders and of will. Whoever knows me inwardly (batin) possesses the truth. Knowledge of me is not perfect unless I say, My slave, obey me and know me in true knowledge of me: I shall make you alive like me, you shall not die; and rich, you shall not be poor; and great, you shall not be abased; hear and pray, you will advance. I am the one present and you are those present in my presence. I am the one near who does not depart. If I punish you, it is my justice; if I forgive you, it is my generosity and my excellence. I am the master of mercy and dispenser of forgiveness and of the clear truth. Praise to God, Lord of the worlds; this is a clear explanation." Sinan's Magical Powers and Legends "On their slopes are castles belonging to the heretical Ismailites, a sect which swerved from Islam and vested divinity in a man. A demon with a human face, called Sinan, has appeared among them. He bewitched them with these black arts, so that they took him as a god and worshiped him. They abased themselves before him, reaching such a state of obedience and subjection that did he order one of them to fall from the mountain top he would do so, and with alacrity that he might be pleased." - Ibn Jubayr Legend has it that Sinan had telepathic powers and there are many stories about him moving large rocks in the surrounding mountainous regions to create pathways. It is said that if you ever thought of a question around him, he would answer with a yes or no. He had no shadow and have never been seen drinking eating or sleeping. Some sources even claim that the Grandmaster of Alamut shape shifted into a glowing green bird at night and flew to Sinan to give him orders. Other sources claim that the bird was not the Imam, but in fact, a magical bird that could answer all questions imaginable. There is a Isma'ili held belief that a trusted servant of the Imam, who stands as his evidence, could become a recipient of spiritual help from the Imam which would confer upon him some of the Imam's supernatural powers. Some have gone as far as to say that Sinan himself was the true Imam. "Sinan is considered to be one of the Imams who lived in Syria and took Misyaf as their 'house of emigration' (daran li-hijra-tihim: c.f. 'Ubayad Allah ai-Mahdi in lfriqiya). He was variously called Abu al-Hasan Muhammad lbn ai-Hasan al-Nizari, or Rashid al-Din, or Sinan, or Ra'is al-Umur, and he was the son of the Imam Hasan al-Alamuti the master of the castles of Taliqan in Persia." Arif Tamir continues, "Sinan said that he had received the office of Imamate from Hasan and he would hand it over to Hassan" Sources * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_ad-Din_Sinan * http://www.ismaili.net/histoire/history06/history623.html * http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/mirza-Sinan.html * http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/sinan_Qiyamat.html Category:Chief Da'is